Boys soccer team faces Keokuk in conference opener

It wasn?t the outcome the Washington boys soccer team hoped for Monday, April 3, as they lost a conference game to Keokuk 0-3.

The game was scoreless the entire first half as both teams battled it out on the field with goalkeeper Thomas Zimmer recording a total of 11 saves throughout the game.

?We held Keokuk to 0-0 at halftime, which something we haven?t done in a couple of years,? said coach Sally Hart. ?I was feeling pretty good then.?

In the second half, the two teams continued have difficulty on the field until 11 minutes in when Keokuk?s Jarrett Johnston would get the ball in the goal to put the first point up on the board.

Keokuk would score again with 1:15 left and again with just five second left on the clock to get the win.

?It was a very physical game,? says Hart. ?It?s not the kind of game that I like to play.

?I want to play soccer, but there was a lot of arms and a lot of pushing away from the ball that wasn?t being caught by the officials.

?I do respect my team in the fact that they weren?t pushing back and that they held strong until the first goal.

?Then they broke down, then it became 3-0. It should have been a 1-0 game.

?I couldn?t be more proud of our captains, Kyle Anderson, John Dillon and Thomas Zimmer; they really led their team out there today.?

The team faces Columbus tonight and there is no time to practice beforehand.

?We had some guys take some pretty hard hits tonight, so we will have to see who is healthy enough to play,? Hart says.

?Columbus is a top-notch team. They are a team to respect. They are one of the few teams in the area that went to state last year and they play a totally different style of soccer.

?Honestly, it?s really a pretty game to watch when they are playing.

?There?s a lot of give-and-goes, a lot of talking  and a lot of very fluid movement, which is tough to play against because we?re not used to it around here. But, it should be a true and good soccer game.?

After tonight?s game, the schedule will ease up a bit for the team.

?We just came off a win against Highland last Friday and playing tonight [Monday] and then tomorrow.

?I think Wednesday will be a pretty light day at practice.

?It?s a good start to the season. It gives us a lot of material to look at and decide what our best step forward will be.

?Whether it?s changing up the formation on the field or who is playing what position, it?s a good start and we?ll have a nice long break after the Columbus game.?

The Demon boys are 1-1. The game against Columbus begins at 4:30 p.m. on the soccer field at the high school tonight.